FIT FOR LIFE

A basically all right diet plan, resting shakily on a foundation of gimmickry and jargon. The Diamonds consider their Fit For Life plan to be unusual because it ""regards nutritional appropriateness as a matter of energy balance: efficient absorption of food energy and elimination of food bulk balance the body, and it becomes neither too thin nor too fat and retains maximum power""--few would disagree with that definition for an ideal diet. The Diamonds translate this into a 24-hour regimen: noon-8 p.m., ""appropriation (eating and digestion)""; 8 p.m.-4 a.m., ""assimilation (absorption and use)""; and 4 a.m., ""elimination (of food debris and body wastes)."" To follow this arbitrary division, the Diamonds' plan allows only for fruit or fruit juice to be eaten before noon, in order to aid the elimination process; the rest of the day's diet tends towards the vegetarian and is okay; and eating at all after 8 p.m. is discouraged. The authors' arguments in support of their plan are laughably unconvincing: ""What I am saying is that since our bodies are 70 percent water, we should be eating a diet that is approximately 70 percent water content."" ""Fit For Lifers"" may experience the diarrhea problems of other fruity diets (Beverly Hills above all)--the authors explain this ""temporary discomfort as the cleansing process taking place and health returning."" This is chock-full of such reasoning--but at least the diet shouldn't do any harm.